Nursing bottle holder



- March 11, 1958 P. w. CONRAD 2,826,386

NURSING BOTTLE HOLDER Filed Sept. 10. 1952 -INVENTOR. Paul M ConradUnited States Patent NURSING BOTTLE HOLDER Paul W. Conrad, Leetonia,Ohio Application September 10, 1952, Serial No. 308,733

Claims. (Cl. 248-104) This invention relates, in general, to a nursingbottle suspension means having a flexible support with a clamp at oneend for attachment with a crib member and to preposition a nursingbottle holding unit in a given rela tion with respect to a feedinginfant. More specifically the invention relates to the bottle holdingunit for this and similar types of bottle suspension means or devices.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a bottleholder having a substantial minimum number of separable cooperable partsto secure a bottle to a supporting unit.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a bottle holderthat is relatively inexpensive by reason of the inherent simplicity ofits construction.

Another object of this invention resides in the ultimate utility andsimplicity of its required assembly in securing a bottle in place forthe feeding support and positioning thereof.

A further object of the present invention is the element of sanitationas evidenced by the facility of separation of the bottle holding membersand their individual adaptability to sterilization.

A still further object of this invention is the manner in which thebottle holder may be disassembled together with the disassembly of thesupporting unit whereby all parts can be conveniently carried about in asmall bag or container.

Another object of this invention is to provide a flexible resilientharness for a bottle holding base cup, and wherein the bottle is seatedwithin such cup socket to be releasably held in place by means of theflexible resilient harness. One of the advantages of the flexibleharness is the self-centering construction thereof whereby the bottlewill be well centered in nested position within the base cup.

Other objects and advantages relating to the bottle holder of thepresent invention shall hereinafter appear in the following detaileddescription having reference to the accompanying drawings forming a partof this specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a general side elevational view of the bottle supportingdevice incorporating the bottle holder of the present invention, withportions of the latter broken away and illustrated in section;

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view of the bottle holder substantially asviewed along the line 2-2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a general perspective view of the flexible resilient harnessutilized for releasably securing the bottle to the supporting device;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken on a radial planethrough a portion of the nursing bottle and the adjacent part of theharness holding the bottle;

Fig. 5 is a face view of the bottle holding cup of the bottle holderillustrating an auxiliary spring ring for use within the cup in aidingto hold the bottle in place;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of the 2,826,386 PatentedMar. 11, 1958 modified arrangement shown and as viewed substantiallyalong the line 66 in Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a side elevational view of the bottle holding device with thesame employed to retain a toy such as a colored ball, or some otherarticle, for the childs amusement.

In Fig. 1 of the drawings, a bottle supporting device is shown in itsentirety and comprises a hand set clamp 1, a flexible cable 2 and abottle holder 3 to securely hold a nursing bottle 4 in a suspendedrelation within a crib by means of the clamp 1 that is releasablysecured to a crib bar 5 or to some other crib part.

The cable 2 consists of a flexible construction of sulficient stiffnessto normally hold its form when bent into a desired contour. In general,cable 2 may be made from a length of flexible cable or conduit 6, cappedat each end with screw machine ferrule parts '7 and 8. Each part '7 and8 comprises a sleeve 9 having a threaded stud 10 projecting outwardlytherefrom. The part 7 screws into a threaded opening 11 in clamp 1 whilethe part 3 threads into a threaded bore 12 in a boss 13 forming anintegral portion of the base cup 14 of the bottle holder 3.

The base cup 14 can, therefore, be readily connected with one end of theflexible cable 2 by connection with the threaded stud 10 of the ferrulepart 3. A flexible resilient harness 15 as seen generally in Fig. 3coacts directly with the base cup 14 of the bottle holder to retain abottle such as 4 in infant nursing relationship.

The harness 15 comprises a base cup connector 16 and a bottle seatingring 17, both connected by a plurality of resilient bottle contourstraps such as 18, 19 and 20. The connector 16 as best seen in Figs. 2and 3 has radial legs or arms 21, 22 and 23 flanking the base cup bottomfor contiguous connection with straps 18, 19 and 29 respectively. Theconnector includes fillet portions or areas 24, 25 and 26 formedweb-like between adjacent connector arms to aid in maintaining thestraps in proper radially spaced positions about the connector 16 and toreinforce the connector between adjacent straps. The reinforcedconnector tends to equalize the radial pull on the legs over the basecup bottom. The connector is further provided with a central opening 28preferably reinforced by means of a ring ferrule or grommet 29. Theopening 28 in the ring 29 is large enough to slip over the boss 13 onthe base cup 14- as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

The straps 18, 19 and 20 all terminate in an appropriate union with theseating ring 17 and may be connected with the ring 17 through molding,cementing or in any other feasible manner. It is preferable to have thestraps secured at or into the outer peripheral face of the annulus orring 17 as shown in Pig. 4. This insures a continuous circular seat bythe ring 17 upon the adjacent neck portion Qtl of the bottle 4 as shownin Fig. 4 to eliminate strap interference or irregular spot contacts atspaced peripheral points about the bottle neck 38.

The harness 15 is made with an overall height or length betweenconnector 16 and ring 17 that is shorter than the distance between thebottle bottom and the level of the neck portion 30 that receives theseating ring 17 of the harness 15. With this proportional arrangement ofthe above cooperative parts, straps 18, 19 and 20 are all tensioned whenapplied and used to hold a nursing bottle seated within the base cup 14of the bottle holder 3. Portions of the radial legs 21, 22 and 23 arealso tensioned during the bottle holding act of the harness.

The bottle 4 is connected with the flexible cable 2 of the supportingdevice by a few simple and quick operations. The bottle 4, when filledand ready for use, is hand inserted nipple end first through the seatingring 17 from the strap side to bring the shoulder 30 of the bottleagainst the ring. A push by hand on the bottle against ring 17 willtension the straps, and when the bottom of the bottle is in a positionto clear the rim edge of the base cup 14, the bottle can he slipped oredged between adjacent tensioned straps to guide the bottle bottom intoseated position within the cup. This course of procedure will preventpossible contamination of the nipple and establishes a simple and quickway to bring the bottle into supported relation on the cable 2 as madepossible through the use of the described bottle holding apparatus.Removal of the bottle merely involves a reversal of the process justexplained. This is the preferable procedure of use and furtherdisassembly of the holder parts such as the cup from the cable and thestrap harness from the cup is ordinarily only periodically necessary forcomplete sterilization of the bottle holding unit.

If desired, the entire bottle carrier may be regularly unscrewed fromthe cable ferrule at feeding time to attach the bottle. With the holderparts all separated and the bottle filled and ready for nursing, thebottle and carrier parts may be assembled by first placing ring 17 uponthe neck 3% of bottle 4, then placing base cup 14 upon the bottle bottom31 and then stretching the straps 18, i9 and 2% to snap connect theferrule 29 over the boss 13 of cup 14 and adjusting the radial spacingof the straps about the bottle circumference to equalize the tensionalhold of the harness for centering the bottle within the cup and to holdthe bottle well nested and against accidental displacement.

After the bottle is seated in the base cup and harnessed, the base cupmay be screwed into one of the cable ferrules such as 8 to support thebottle from a crib part or the like so that the entire assembly appearsas shown in Fig. 1. Removal of the bottle holder is carried out byunscrewing the base cup from the cable means and the bottle can be takenout of the harness assembly by the removal of the connector ferrule 29from boss 13, or through the removal of ring 17 from about the neck 3%of bottle Either act releases the bottle forremoval from the cup base 14and from between straps 18, 19 and 2h. The bottle and nipple may then besterilized. The base cup and harness may also be steri lized at the sametime or whenever deemed necessary or desirable.

The entire bottle holder comprises a simple two piece cooperative unitthat is easily applied and readily sterilized. The harness can bereplaced at small cost. In this connection the harness may be a moldedproduct in its entirety or the connector and straps may be die cut fromrubber sheet for subsequently securing the straps ends to the ring 17.Cup 14 may be of metal, plastic, rubber or of any compositional materialhaving the necessary structural stability to receive and sustain thebottle and harness in the cooperative manner explained and described.

In the modified arrangement shown in Figs. and 6,

the base cup 33 may be proportioned to receive a generally annularspring insert 34 of corrugated peripheral contour.

Insert 34 may be made of extruded plastic, metal or g of rubbercomposition of sufiicient stability to hold its form and to present aresilient annular bottle grip within the cup 33. By providing the highpoints 35 of the insert 34 in a cylindrical surface somewhat larger thanthe internal cylindrical contour circle 36 of the base cup 33, thespring insert 34 is normally frictionally held within the cup. Byfurther providing the radially innermost points 37 of the spring insert34 in a given minimum cylindrical circular area somewhat smaller thanthe maximum cylindrical external contour of a nursing bottle, the bottomof the bottle will depress the radially inner high points of the springring to provide a frictional grip on the bottle simultaneously causingthe outer points 35 to compress thus better gripping the outercylindrical contour portion of the wall 36 of the base cup 33.

The spring means 34 and cup 33 are used as in Fig. l with the resilientharness such as 15 connected therewith. in all other respects the holderfunctions like the device shown in Fig. l.

The bottle holder may also be used to hold a ball, block or otherirregular shaped toy or device for the amusement of the child. Fig. 7shows one such use with a ball 38 confined between the base cup 14 andring 17 and surrounded by the flexible contour straps 18, U and 20.

With the completely stretchable harness straps that are capable ofconforming to the external shape of a bottle, toy or other obiecttogether with a ring such as 17 that can be made of a material havinglimited resiliency, it is possible to firmly support many things withinan infants reach when the infant is in the crib, bed or perambnlator.

Although the foregoing description is directed to the preferredconstructions illustrated in the drawings, changes in the exact shapesand styles of the individual parts, or in the exact combinationsthereof, are contemplated without departure from the fundamental conceptof the present invention. All such modifications shall, however, begoverned by the breadth and scope of the language in the appendedclaims.

What I claim is:

l. A bottle holder comprising a base member for the bottle bottom and aharness connected with said member for connection with the bottle tohold the same against said member, said base member comprising anannular socket on one side thereof to receive the bottle bottom therein,and a boss on the opposite side of said member, and said harnesscomprising a flexible and resil ient unit, a connector on said unit forpositioning against said base member, said connector having an aperturetherein receiving the boss of said base member therethrough, straps onsaid connector, and a ring connecting the free ends of said straps, saidstraps providing means to flank the bottle sides to hold the bottlecentered with respect to said base member, and said ring providing meanson said straps for engagement about the neck of the bottle to hold saidbottle against the base member and securely nested in the socket of saidbase member.

2. A bottle holder comprising a base member for the bottle bottom and aharness connected with said member for connection with the bottle tohold the same against said member, said base member comprising anannular socket on one side thereof to receive the bottle bottom therein,and a boss on the opposite side of said member, and said harnesscomprising a flexible and resilient unit, a connector on said unit forpositioning against said base member, said connector having an aperturetherein receiving the boss of said base member therethrough, straps onsaid connector, and a ring connecting the free ends of said straps, saidstraps providing means to flank the bottle sides to hold the bottlecentered with respect to said base member, and said ring providing meanson said straps for engagement about the neck of the bottle to hold saidbottle against the base member and securely nested in the socket of saidbase member, and said boss on said base member including attachmentmechanism to secure the bottle holder to a supporting unit to bodilysuspend said bottle with said bottle holder.

3. A bottle holder comprising a base member for the bottle bottom and aharness connected with said memberfor connection with the bottle to holdthe same against said member, said base member comprising an annularsocket on one side thereof to receive the bottle bottom therein, and aboss on the opposite side of said member, and said harness comprising aflexible and resilient unit, a connector associated with said unit forpositioning against said base member, said connector having an aperturetherein receiving the boss of said 'base member therethrough, straps onsaid connector, and a ring connecting the free ends of said straps, saidstraps comprising flexible bottle orientation means arranged to flankthe bottle sides and to conform with the contour thereof and to retainthe bottle in centered position upon said base member, and said ringcomprising a rim annulus for encircling the neck of the bottle andadapted to be urged to the base member by said straps to hold saidbottle securely nested within the socket of said base member, and saidstrap ends each being connected at the radially outer peripheral edge ofsaid ring to permit free annular and continuous peripheral contact ofthe ring upon and against the neck portion of the bottle.

4. In a bottle holder, a base having a socket for the reception of abottle bottom, and an integrally formed harness to hold said bottle tosaid base in stable relation thereto comprising a connector to engageunder said base, cooperative centering means to orient said connector ina given relation with respect to said base, straps on said connector,and a ring to encircle the neck of the bottle, said straps beingconnected to said ring and comprising resilient and stretchable membersadapted to be maintained under tension when said ring engages a bottleneck and while said bottle bottom nests within the socket portion ofsaid base, and an annular resilient member frictionally carried withinsaid base socket and encircling the base wall to provide means to graspsaid bottle bottom and to coact with said harness for stabilizing thebottle with respect to the base of the holder, said resilient membercomprising a corrugated spring unit having radially outwardly disposedportions to frictionally engage the internal annular wall of the basesocket, and having radially inwardly disposed portions to frictionallyengage the outer peripheral wall of the bottle bottom to retain saidbottle centrally nested and in seated relation within said base socket.

5. In a bottle holder, a base having a socket for the reception of abottle bottom, and a harness to secure said bottle to said basecomprising a connector to engage under said base, cooperative centeringmeans to orient said connector in a given relation with respect to saidbase, and straps on said connector, 2. ring to encircle the neck of thebottle, said straps being connected to said ring and comprisingresilient and stretchable members adapted to be maintained under tensionwhen said ring engages a bottle neck and while said bottle bottom nestswithin the socket portion of said base, and a flat stock annularresilient member adapted to stand on edge in said base socket andfunctioning to grasp said bottle bottom comprising a corrugated springunit having radially outwardly disposed portions to frictionally engagethe internal annular wall of the base socket, and having radiallyinwardly disposed portions to frictionally engage the outer peripheralwall of the bottle, said outwardly disposed portions of said annularmember being positioned to normally terminate in a circle slightlygreater in diameter than the circular contour of the inner circular wallof the base socket to frictionally retain said member within said basesocket, and said inwardly disposed portions of said member beingpositioned to normally terminate in a circle having a diameter slightlysmaller than the circular exterior contour of the bottle to frictionallyhold the bottle bottom in place in said base socket.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS579,295 Delzell Mar. 23, 1897 773,252 Frank Oct. 25, 1904 1,020,136Feely et al. Mar. 12, 1912 1,559,740 Cardarella Nov. 3, 1925 1,619,099Beck Mar. 1, 1927 1,630,167 Cardarella May 24, 1927 1,637,864 KolsterAug. 2, 1927 1,786,459 Simons Dec. 30, 1930 1,820,406 Thompson Aug. 25,1931 1,911,901 Keane et al May 30, 1933 2,215,411 Sebring Sept. 17, 19402,448,326 Roberts Aug. 31, 1948 2,594,545 Emens Apr. 29, 1952 2,647,712Sandmoen Aug. 4, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 23,077 Great Britain of 1893129,883 Australia Nov. 8, 1948 994,375 France Nov. 15, 1951

